The highlight of the school carnival last week seemed to be Keaton's principal and another teacher singing WMCA, completely and totally off tune.In fact, the only way we would have known it was the Village People in all their glory was the multiple weddings receptions we have attended where the familiar tune is almost an anthem. Gage was overwhemed and has asked me to burn it on his Elvis CD.Karaoke reminds me alot of Real Life. While we can each sing the same song, it may sound completely different and at times, unrecognizable.Perhaps that is the beauty of who we are. God can take the same thing and make it our own yet we have a similiar background that makes us able to connect with each other.
The thing about the Singing Educators was their energy. They didn't take themselves very seriously. Not sure if they could really sing or not. To them, it was about making the most of the moment. They ended with a big finish and the crowd rewarded their effort with overwhelming applause. Later that evening when we passed the karaoke booth again, two fifth graders were not doing so well. They were trying way too hard to sing, their voices couldn't produce what was in their hearts and it showed. There was no signs of fun - they were going for the gold and all that was popping up was mud-colored.
That's the way Real Life is. We spend so much energy on things that don't matter. The size of our waistbands or new wrinkles or what the neighbors think. We spend so much time with these temporary things that we forget about Jesus. He becomes secondary - something we need when we get bad news or when we are trying to get someone to come to our churches.
I have been overweight for as long as I can remember. I have been on a thousand diets and lost hundreds of pounds. More importantly, I have wasted countless hours thinking about it. Five years ago when this throat thing went wacko, I involuntarily lost a lot of weight. Some thought I looked sickly. Being thin didn't make my life any better than being fat did. I have decided to follow the principal's lead. I am not going to spend time thinking about losing weight. Instead of praying for my circumstances to change, for Jesus to make it all better, I am going to invite Him to share my day, everyday, no matter what is happening. I have a strange feeling whether I ever lose a pound of not, my life will resemble Mr Principal's more and the serious little fifth graders less.
So for today, as the words of my life play out on the screen,
I am going to sing my heart out.
Good or bad, I am going to sing my heart out.
One step at a time, I am going to grab that microphone and sing my heart out.
Can you hear me now!!!
